NURC 2012 - The Pleasantville

Mission Description

July 6th, Friday morning, 8am, FBI headquarters, Washington DC.
Special Agent Dana Scully walks into the basement office she shares with her partner Special Agent Fox Mulder, carrying two cups of Starbuck’s coffee. Agents Mulder and Scully are in charge of the X-files, FBI cases classified as unsolved and requiring unconventional efforts. Fox looks up with his familiar grin as Dana hands him his coffee.
“Thanks, Scully. Could you get the lights?” He motioned to the slide projector, indicating he was about to introduce Dana to their new case. She smiled wryly as she got the lights.
“Okoboji Lake near Pleasantville, Montana.” Mulder clicks the projector to the next slide. “Last Wednesday at about 11:30 pm the local National Guard surrounds and secures the lake, sealing it off from all the residents including the local Sheriff who's been left in the dark except for the vague explanation that there is geothermal activity in the lake, and they have orders to keep the civilian population out of the area for their own safety.”
Dana's skepticism is obvious. “I don’t see how this concerns us, Mulder. Geothermal activity hardly qualifies as an X-File.”
“Ah, in itself no, but for the fact that there has not been any tectonic activity in the area for over 10,000 years, and that no local authorities called the National Guard,” Fox replies
. “That still doesn’t make it an X-File. Maybe the USGS notified them.”
Fox persists, “You could be right, but that doesn’t explain the missing 20 people.”
“What missing 20 people?”
“The 20 people that disappeared during the 4th of July celebration right in the middle of the town square with virtually all residents in attendance. No one knows where they are. One minute they're enjoying the fireworks and then the next minute..... Does that make it an X-File?”
“What do the missing people have to do with the lake? You can’t assume the two events are related.”
Fox replies, “I don’t know what the connection is yet...but what are the chances of these two events occurring on the same day?”
While turning off the projector Agent Mulder continues,“Oh yeah, there’s one more thing,... the whole town is missing 9 minutes.” Dana knew what that meant. Missing 9 minutes has been correlated with UFO encounters involving abductions. Fox grabs his coat off the back of his chair and heads toward the door. “Are your bags packed Scully? Our plane leaves in an hour!”
When the agents arrive in Pleasantville they go directly to the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff greets them at the door.
“Agent Mulder?”
Fox replies, “Yes, and this is my partner Special Agent Scully.”
The Sheriff looks relieved, “I am glad you two are here to help figure this out. Nobody is telling me a thing. The National Guard is saying they're looking for the missing folks, but all I see is them protecting the lake. They're also telling me to stay in town and look out for the rest of the population. They won’t let me help in the search and they won't let me near the lake.” “Have you contacted any other agencies?”
The sheriff replies, “Yes sir, but you're the only ones to show up. I was beginning to think nobody would come.”
Dana interjects, “It’s going to be kind of difficult to get to the bottom of these events if we are restricted in our investigation by other parties.”
The sheriff replies, “I can't tell you how to get around the Guard. But I can give you one witness. Can't attest to his credibility, though.”
“Meaning....” Dana responds.
“He’s the town drunk. He was fishing at the lake when he said he saw something.” “What did he see?” “I'll let him tell you for himself. I got him locked up here sleeping another one off.”
“Its been two days...you've kept him here all this time?”
The Sheriff responds defensively, “I kept him here because he's the only witness I've got. Thought you'd appreciate it.”
Dana and Fox wake Otis, the town drunk, to ask him what he saw.
“I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder and this is my partner Special Agent Dana Scully. We're with the FBI. I understand you went fishing on the fourth... and you saw something.”
Otis wiped his face with the hem of his flannel shirt. “I’ll tell you but you won’t believe me. I saw this big round flying saucer thing get hit by fireworks and then sparks started flying. I was fishing by the banks off the lake and watching the fireworks when it got hit. The saucer crashed straight into the lake. I got back to town to find the Sheriff and let him know what I seen and he’s kept me locked up since.”
The Sheriff grabs Otis’s arm and shows the agents Otis’s wristwatch. “His watch is the only one in town I've come upon that matches the official time of the nearby towns. Somehow everybody at the fireworks celebration has their watches 9 minutes slower.”
Fox takes out his cell phone and calls the Lone Gunmen, a small group of counterculture patriots who are ardent conspiracy theorists, government watchdogs, and computer hackers who frequently assist Fox and Dana with X-Files. “Hey Frohike, do you still have that ROV you guys were playing around with last month? ...Good! How would you like to test it out here in Montana?”
This is where your team comes in. You are the Lone Gunmen. You and your buddies will take your ROV into Lake Okoboji to search for the UFO and the missing 20 people, while Fox and Dana distract the National Guard for about 30 minutes. Good Luck.

Mission objectives

Locate the Flying Saucer

Get the Depth of opening in Flying Saucer

Measure the temperature of the boiling energy cell

Broadcast the sound of the boiling energy cell to the surface

Drop a homing device in the control panel

Release the payload section with the 20 missing people (It will float to surface)

Retrieve the two aliens

Signal Mulder and Scully with laser buoy (any task done after this is worth double, but it starts a timer that will bring the national guard divers in 5 minutes)
Avoid national guard torpedoes (They will be armed with three pneumatic torpedoes. If they hit your ROV from behind the fireing line, the mission ends with the points you have accumulated up to that point, but they will not count double. If you fire a torpedo at them and hit them or the torpedo crosses the firing line, then the guard will cease to fire and leave and you can continue with your mission) (torpedo must be safe to diver) (you can have as many torpedoes as you want)

Our team competed with the robot Gauss (pictured below) and received 2nd place